Scars
by PennyForYourThoughts024
Summary: Link is still troubled by the horrors he had to go through in his quest against Ganondorf. The scars on his body tell stories of pain and endurance. He, however, is not letting anyone in, convinced he should not show weakness. Little does he know, a certain blonde haired pirate has something else to say about that. (Sequel to 'A New Journey')
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: And we're back again with another LoZ fic! This is a sort of sequel to 'A New Journey' as it follows Link and Tetra's adventures as they deal with the implications of their previous journey and what they went through in their struggle against Ganondorf. As you can gather from the title, this is about Link and his...well, scars. Anyway, here we go! Leave a review if you like it, and stay tuned for more!**

 **DISCLAIMER: This is a non profit fanfiction. The Legend of Zelda is owned by Nintendo. Please support the official release.**

* * *

Link opened his eyes to find that he was in an empty area full of sand. He looked around, but there was no sign of life anywhere. He instinctively reached for his sword, only to find that he wasn't carrying it. A wave of panic instantly hit him, as he was heavily handicapped without his primary weapon. What's worse, he didn't have his shield either, meaning that if he was attacked, it would be one hell of a fight. To make matters even worse, he had no idea where he was or how he got there. He tried to move his legs, and while it was difficult due to the sand, he managed to take a step forward.

However, as soon as he did, the entire ground started rumbling. Link froze, his eyes scanning the area, looking out for any enemies. Suddenly, something burst from the sand and leaped at him. Link cried out and instinctively used his hand to block the attack. The creature sunk its teeth into Link's arm, sending the boy into a world of pain. He cried out and punched the creature off his hand. Inspecting the wound, he found that the crimson liquid was spreading across his arm at a rapid pace. One of his teeth made a deep cut on the back of his hand as well, and the blood trickled down his arm. He also noticed a greenish tinge to the wound as a wave of exhaustion hit him.

' _Poison in its fangs.….damn it!'_

He began to feel dizzy as he fell to the ground, trying as hard as he could to stay conscious. Panting heavily, he looked to find an exit when he heard a roar. His eyes widened as another larger creature burst from the sand in front of him. Link gasped as he recognized it.

"I killed you! You should be dead!" He barely had time to wonder how the hell this had happened, however, as the creature quickly noticed him and rushed towards him. He tried to move but found that his legs were stuck in place. The creature let out another roar as it opened its enormous mouth, no doubt intending to swallow him whole. Link braced himself as its jaw clamped around him, sending him into an abyss of darkness and pain.

"LINK!"

Link's eyes shot open as he sat upright suddenly. He looked around him, expecting to see the slimy walls of the creature's mouth. Instead he found Tetra leaning over him, an expression of slight annoyance on her face. He looked around and saw that he was still on the pirate ship like normal. Tetra asked, "What on earth was going on? You were tossing and turning in your sleep; not to mention you were clutching your arm so hard I'm surprised it didn't start bleeding." Link looked at the spot where he had felt the creature's bite. The sleeve hid most of it, but Link knew there was a huge gash from where the creature had bit him. He closed his eyes and shuddered, remembering the battle against the guardian of the Wind Temple. He had gotten hurt far more than usual due to the treacherous terrain. Those mini creatures that spawned ended up injuring his leg and his hands to a great extent. Only the bit of the scar on the back of his hand was visible.

He sighed and said, "It's nothing. I guess I just had a bad dream, that's all." Tetra looked at him with her eyes narrowed. Link turned away, not wanting to meet Tetra's eyes. He didn't need her thinking that she was just some kid who couldn't handle a nightmare. He could look after himself – after all, he was the Hero of Winds, and heroes weren't supposed to show weakness. Not to mention he couldn't afford to look weak in front of her of all people. He had to protect her. It was his duty as the hero.

"I'm fine. What's going on?"

Tetra sighed and said, "We stopped at Windfall Island for supplies. I advise you pick up whatever you need as well because we won't be stopping anywhere for a while." Link nodded and stood up slowly. Tetra pursed her lips worriedly before saying, "You know, it's all right to have nightmares about what you went through. You've seen more horrors at your age than most people have seen in a lifetime." Link said nothing as he changed into his trademark green tunic. Tetra continued, "If you ever want to talk about it…..I'll be here."

"I'm fine, Tetra. Don't worry so much about me."

With that, he strode out of the room, strapping his sword and shield to his back as he did so. Tetra watched his retreating figure with a mixture of annoyance and worry. She sighed and followed him out of the room.

* * *

"Is that all, sir?"

Link nodded as the salesman counted up the items he selected. "All right, that'll be 150 Rupees." Link was a bit surprised that a bottle of red potion, a cleaning cloth and some berries amounted to that, but he handed over the gems nonetheless and thanked the salesman. He started walking back to the ship when he felt a tug on his tunic from behind. He instantly tensed and turned around quickly, ready for an attack.

"Sir, you forgot your change…?"

Link relaxed and smiled at the salesman. "Oh – sorry about that. Thank you." He collected the assortment of rupees from the salesman and slipped them into his pocket. He noticed the salesman looking at him rather oddly, and said, "Is something wrong?" The salesman pointed at his hand and said, "That's quite a nasty scar." Link looked to where he was pointing and saw that he was talking about a thin line spread across the back of his hand. He sighed and said, "Yeah – got it while out at sea." He did not elaborate further, and the salesman seemed to understand. He said, "Be careful out there – it's a nasty world, especially for a young one such as yourself." Link felt a stab of annoyance at being addressed as such, but didn't let it show, instead simply saying, "Right. Thanks for the tip." With that, he turned around and started towards the ship. He was at the dock when he felt yet another sharp tug on his tunic. He dropped the bag and lay his hand on his sword handle as he turned around, ready to attack.

"Umm….mister? I can't find my mommy. Can you help me?"

Link relaxed as he smiled at the small boy in front of him. He nodded and asked him, "Where was the last place you saw her?" The boy pointed in the direction of the bazaar and said, "I was checking out the stuff at that shop, and when I turned around, she was gone. She's wearing a yellow dress and she has a big red bag with her." Link looked around for a woman of that description, but couldn't find anyone. He frowned as there weren't too many places she could disappear to. He told the kid to stay, handing his bag to him while he headed over to the bazaar to look. He asked a couple of the townsfolk, but none of them had seen her. Scratching his head, he wondered where she could have gone when his flow of thought was interrupted by a yell.

"THIEF! STOP HIM! HE HAS MY MONEY!"

Link's head sharply turned to the source of the noise, and he barely had time to make out a figure clad in black running away from the same salesman from earlier, with a huge bag over his shoulders. Link sighed and thought, _'No matter how many monsters you kill, evil never truly leaves this world.'_ He ran after the thief without another thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! Second chapter is up. Stay tuned for more!**

 **DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fanfiction. The Legend of Zelda is owned by Nintendo. Please support the official release.**

* * *

Link ran through the bazaar, trying to catch up to the figure in front of him. The thief was quick, dodging and weaving through the sizable crowd with little to no effort. He took a sharp at the windmill and jumped down to the sandy shore. Link gritted his teeth and took out his hookshot, targeting the tree on the lower level. He fired and it latched onto the tree. Link felt the familiar pull as he zoomed towards it. Quickly dislodging himself, he ran after the thief. Upon getting close, Link decided to make a jump for it, leaping towards the figure. However, the thief turned around and Link saw a gleam of silver in his hand. Recognizing what he held, Link's eyes widened as he swerved his body to the right in an effort to avoid the blade. But he was too late, and the thief swung, making a huge cut on Link's hand. Link flinched in pain as he slammed onto the grass. The thief smirked and started running to the dock.

' _Not on my watch, you don't.'_ , Link thought as he brought out his bow and arrow. He tried to keep a steady aim despite the throbbing in his hand. He didn't want to accidentally end up killing him. He nocked an arrow and fired it at the thief's feet. The arrow whistled through the air, apparently unnoticed by the thief, who thought he had stopped Link by slicing him with his dagger. He was about to get on a small boat docked at the shore when the arrow went through the man's foot. He yelled in pain and fell to the ground. Link smirked in satisfaction and relaxed his body, his arm throbbing from the cut.

He inspected the wound and found that despite the quickness of the attack, the thief had made a pretty deep cut, stretching from his wrist all the way to his elbow. He quickly reached into his pouch for a fairy, but found that he didn't have any. His hand found the red potion, and he was about to drink it when a wave of dizziness hit him. He was about to yell out to someone when he heard a voice shout,

"WHAT DID YOU DO, YOU MORON?!"

Tetra ran up to the Hero of Winds, an expression of both anger and worry etched on her face. She quickly removed her bandana and wrapped around Link's hand. She pressed hard in an effort to prevent Link from losing more blood. "Next time, don't be so reckless, Link. You're lucky that this was just a scratch. You could have been hu-what in the world?!" Tetra gasped as Link's hand started to become red at an exponential rate. Pulling back the sleeve, Tetra's face nearly went white with shock as Link felt the dull pain he had been feeling escalate to unbelievable levels. He cried out in pain and clutched his hand tightly. Tetra pulled back his sleeve only to see that the scar on his hand had been reopened. Blood was freely leaking from the wound as Link struggled to stay conscious. Tetra called for help, her voice carrying a desperate note rarely seen for the pirate captain. Not able to bear it anymore, Link slipped into unconsciousness, the last thing he heard being Tetra cry out his name.

* * *

Link awoke in a familiar cavern. The center of the room was completely covered in lava, and he immediately felt the intense heat radiate from all around him as he struggled to comprehend why he was here. As if in answer to that very question, something burst from the lava, its eye staring intently at the young hero. Link recognized the creature instantly, but had no time to contemplate why he was fighting it again as it raised a giant claw in the air, surely intending to crush him. He rolled to the side just as it came crashing down on him, the sound of the claw smashing the ground making a deafening noise that sent ringing into Link's ears. Quickly getting back to his feet, he reached for his grappling hook, and to his delight, found it. He brought it out and swung it in circles, aiming for the tail that he knew hung from the ceiling. However, just before he could take a swing, a sharp pain burst from his left hand. He cried out as he staggered back. The creature withdrew its claw from the wall, and Link saw the crimson liquid drip from its tip. Feeling dizzy, he looked at his arm and saw that the claw had pierced his arm, leaving a wound dripping with blood. The sight of the blood sent a wave of panic throughout Link as he struggled to his feet. He fought the urge to pass out as the creature prepared to strike again. He tried to aim his grappling hook but the creature was too fast, its claw descending upon him with the certainty of death. Link shut his eyes as he prepared for the inevitable.

Suddenly Link found himself in a large circular room. Three heavily armored Darknuts stood in front of him, swords gleaming in the cavern, as if they were sharpened just to receive the blood of the young hero. Lin barely had time to think before they were upon him. His mind went on autopilot, dodging and weaving, trying to get hits in wherever he could. However, as they lost their armor, they became quicker and more agile. Link lost count of the number of cuts he received, simply trying to stay alive.

Soon, the Darknuts began to crumble one by one. When they had all disappeared, Link collapsed onto his knees, panting heavily. He checked his pockets for a fairy but found that he had none on him. He struggled to his feet and was about to make his way to the exit when he felt an excruciating pain across his back. He cried out and fell to the ground. Hearing the whoosh of a blade behind him, he leapt out of the way and turned around to see the last Darknut, heavily wounded but still standing, his blade stained with blood. Link weighed his options, and on an impulse, threw his sword like a javelin right at its head. The blade pierced the monster's skull and he fell to the ground. Link fought the urge to slip into unconsciousness as he trudged over to the monster to pick up his sword, but it was too much for the young hero, and he collapsed to the cold, hard ground.

He awoke on top of a tower with waterfalls all around him. Getting to his feet, he instantly recognized the place and reached for his sword. Drawing it, he looked around and saw that he was alone. Wondering what the hell was going on, he took a couple of steps forward. Suddenly he felt a chill in the air. He turned around to see a black hooded figure standing ominously in front of him. 'Ganondorf.', Link thought as he glared at the man, who drew two swords. Suddenly, as if he was put on fast forward, Link was in the middle of a fierce battle with the King of Evil, their swords clashing over and over in repeated attempts to hit the other. Link wasn't in control of his actions, but he could see everything from his own eyes. He watched as Ganondorf deflected his blade and kicked him so hard the wind was knocked out of him. Despite not being in control of his actions, Link still felt pain, and it only got worse when his enemy hit him with his fist, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Link was forced to watch as Ganondorf looked at him with an expression of disdain and disappointment. He raised his blade and brought it down in a flash. Link's eyes widened as he screamed in agony. Ganondorf smiled wickedly and removed the sword, the blood dripping onto Link's tunic. Link stared at the evil man, defiance in his eyes. Ganondorf simply smiled back, a twisted look emerging in his eyes. He raised his sword once more and stabbed Link again. Link screamed, his yells echoing in the empty chamber.

Stab. Scream. Stab. Scream.

Link lost count after a point. His voice was hoarse from the yelling. The pain he felt throughout his body was excruciating, and it was a fierce fight to just remain conscious. His sight started to blur and he saw the water below him turn a deep shade of red as it mixed with his blood. He finally gave in and shut his eyes, his body relaxing.

He thought, for sure, that he was dead.

The Hero of Winds had fallen.


End file.
